Drug-resistant bacteria linger on gloves and cutting boards after food preparation, according to a recent study.

The Swiss study, published in the journal Infection Control and Hospital
Epidemiology, involved testing nearly 300 cutting boards, both from hospitals and households, that were used to prepare poultry, beef, veal, pork, lamb, game or fish. Researchers also collected 20 pairs of gloves from hospital staff who had handled raw poultry. The samples were tested for drug-resistant bacteria, including salmonella.

The tests shows that nearly 7 percent of the hospital cutting boards were contaminated, compared with 4 percent of those from households. They
also found that 50 percent of the hospital kitchen gloves were
tainted with drug-resistant pathogens.

“The spread of multidrug-resistant bacteria has been associated with
the hospital setting, but these findings suggest that transmission of
drug-resistant E. coli occurs both in the hospital and households,” said Dr. Andreas Widmer, lead author of the study. “Our findings emphasize
the importance of hand hygiene, not only after handling raw poultry, but
also after contact with cutting boards used in poultry preparation.”

And in other news, also from Europe, the European Food Safety Authority reports that member states have logged 1,300 cases of hepatitis A since January 2013. European food safety officials initially thought the problem stemmed from food in Italy. But cases have also been reported from France, Germany, Ireland, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

The most likely culprit is frozen berries. Sound familiar?

Last year, more than 150 people in nine states became infected with hepatitis A from pomegranate seeds in a berry mix produced by Townsend Farms. Oregon lucked out in that outbreak. There were no cases in the state even though the mix was produced in Fairview. The pomegranate seeds came from Turkey.